A true boutique classic - and here you have two of them in one box!
The Double Hotcake has two Hotcakes 'A' and 'B' in one box. The A is a Bluesberry version, and the B a normal version (the "Bluesberry" voicing of the Hotcake has a slightly less buzzy edge at the onset of distortion, and oft... Read More ›

Crowther Audio Double Hotcake

A true boutique classic - and here you have two of them in one box!

The Double Hotcake has two Hotcakes 'A' and 'B' in one box. The A is a Bluesberry version, and the B a normal version (the "Bluesberry" voicing of the Hotcake has a slightly less buzzy edge at the onset of distortion, and often works well when guitarists have amplifiers with extra extreme treble boost, like some Marshalls for instance). Both have three knobs and a footswitch as with regular Hotcakes. If both Hotcakes are switched on together, the A Hotcake drives the B, and its controls are bypassed, but an extra Drive control is switched in to adjust the its gain. There is also an extra clipping stage and a reduction in low frequencies to make for a better lead sound in the high gain situation. The A Hotcake has the usual buffered bypass (the circuit becomes a buffer in bypass mode), while the B Hotcake is hard bypassed using gold plated contacts.

MAJOR ARTISTS THAT HAVE USED THE HOTCAKE

Split Endz

Crowded House

Neil Finn

Mark Knopfler

Radiohead

Stevie Ray Vaughan

Noel Gallagher (Oasis)

Rolling Stones

Blur

Violent Femmes

Sonic Youth

INXS

The first Hotcake was made in 1976, while creator Paul Crowther was in the UK with Split Enz. It is designed to leave the undistorted component of the guitar sound unchanged, while providing a nice fat distortion sound without resorting to a treble cut circuit which will also affect the guitar tonality. With the Drive and Presence controls set to minimum, and the Level at around 2 o’clock, you should be hard pressed to hear any change in the sound at all when you switch the Hotcake in and out. You can get a clean volume boost by increasing the Level control. Increasing the Drive will give you a thick distortion sound with a little bit of edge to it, and the Presence control adds some mid-range punch to the sounds. The Hotcake also handles chords superbly, just like an overdriven amp.

The Hotcake is perfectly sonically tuner to EL84 tube amps like the Vox AC series.

Note: Since 2008, The Hotcake has included a jumper switch system. This system allows the user to change the setting to The Hotcake Bluesberry specification. Using the same jumper switch system you have a Bass Accentuation facility. We advise the user that the settings should not be altered on a regular basis – the jumper switch system is in place to allow the user to fix a setting and is not intended as a constant switching option.It is recommended that the Hotcake is patched between the guitar and amplifier, rather than into an amplifier’s effect loop. Generally speaking, if you are happy with your guitar and amplifier combination, the Hotcake will work well as a primary distortion.

HARMONY CENTRAL USER REVIEW 11/2/2005“The sound for me is simply unbeatable. I have been giggin' with it for the last 2 years and every time I stomp on it, it impresses me. Its just so warm and full… it is the best there is. A must have for any rocker.”

HARMONY CENTRAL USER REVIEW 9/6/2005“I play in the UK’s top Hendrix tribute, and this pedal helps me to get the sounds that I am after. If you want a pedal that will do a nice boost through to thick overdriven fuzzy sounds that still responds to your picking and guitar vol dynamics, look no further. Every guitar player will find a use for this pedal.”

ABOUT CROWTHER AUDIO

Crowther Audio was established over thirty years ago by Paul Crowther from New Zealand with his first and a seminal product the Crowther Hotcake, the initial one was made in 1976, while he was in the UK touring with Split Enz with the Finn brothers from Crowded house fame. The Hotcake was designed to leave the undistorted component of the guitar sound unchanged, while providing a nice fat distortion sound without resorting to a treble cut circuit which will also affect the guitar tonality.

The products are still made today in New Zealand by Paul, and since the Hotcake inception some thirty years ago, Crowther Audio has released two other products: the Prunes & Custard, a Harmonic generator, and the double Hotcake. Crowther Audio is committed to making high quality analogue guitar products, that ethos has inspired many famous users from Mark Knopfler to Noel Gallagher to use Crowther products on their material and its distinctive tone can clearly be heard on many of their most famous hits.

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